The revival of women’s floors in hotels—complete with vanity mirrors, yoga mats and extra-soft socks to satisfy the “needs” of a modern woman—is sparking controversy among female travelers and hospitality workers. While hotels seem to believe that women’s floors will make a stay more enjoyable by catering specifically to female tastes, the New York Times reports that women’s floors are viewed as discriminatory by many.

The idea of women’s floors is nothing new. After World War II, many hotels added separate women’s floors in an effort to increase security and comfort for female travelers. But after a few decades, women’s floors weren’t viewed in such a rosy light.

“By the mid-’80s, separate floors in hotels offended many women who were traveling on business,” Bjorn Hanson, hotel analyst and faculty member at the Tisch Center, told the Times. “They were trying to be C.E.O.’s but were looked on as the weaker sex. Women’s floors became a kind of sexist thing instead of a polite offer.”

Hotels are justifying the rebirth of women’s floors, which have become increasingly popular in the last three years, by saying that women look for different offerings in their hotels—women’s magazines, lighter menu options and nicer soaps, among other things. But, as former Wyndham vice president Cary Broussard told the Times, some women are taking offense to being treated differently. “Women don’t aspire to be isolated after working years to be assimilated,” she said.

Related on World Hum
* Women’s Travel E-Mail Roundtable
* First Women-Only Hotel Opens In Saudi Arabia